SCOTLAND TO THE FAR EAST SAILS 11TH SEPTEMBER 1956

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "SCOTLAND TO THE FAR EAST SAILS 11TH SEPTEMBER 1956"

Georgina Robbins
5 years ago
Views:

1 SCOTLAND TO THE FAR EAST SAILS 11TH SEPTEMBER 1956

2 AUGUST 1956

3 Ajax I, sister ship to Diomed I, in a Typhoon, about 1872.

4 Though we are known as the Blue Funnel Line our ships actually are owned either by the Ocean Steam Ship Co., The China Mutual Steam Navigation Co. or the Nederlandsche Stoomvaart Maatschappij Oceaan of Amsterdam. We are also known by other names Holts, The China Company, The Blue-ees, or still today in Malaya Kapal Bogaardt Bogaardt s ships, from the name of our first agent in Penang. In the history and life of a shipping company names particularly ships names have a very special significance. Perhaps this is because ships are not long lived and because each has her own characteristics, even sister-ships, and quickly acquires a reputation, good or bad, with those that sail in and manage her. Diomed is a notable name in our history. Diomed I, built in 1868, was the first Blue Funnel ship to make the passage of the Suez Canal. Diomed II, built in 1895, and Diomed III, built in 1917, both by Scotts of Greenock, were sunk by enemy action in the First World War. Diomed IV, built in 1922, survived the Second World War and was broken up after thirty years in service. Diomed V joins a fleet of 77 ships under the Holt and Glen house flags, which include 57 ships built or acquired during and since the war in replacement of normal obsolescence and 44 ships lost by enemy action. Diomed IV, Built Sold 1952.

5 The A Class.

6 The Diomed is the twenty-fourth of a group of sister-ships, the first of which was delivered to us in We call these single-screw motor ships our A Class, and basically they are all alike, which gives us the advantages of standardisation. However, there has been much technical development over the past nine years, particularly in propulsion, and the results of this have been incorporated progressively into the ships of this class. It is noteworthy, for instance, that whereas the main engines in the early A Class ships are rated at 6,800 S.H.P. and require an engine-room of 69 feet mean length, the Diomed s machinery can develop 8,500 S.H.P. in a 63-foot engine-room. The leading particulars of the Diomed are as follows: - Length B.P. 452 ft. 9 ins. Beam 62 ft. 0 ins. Draft, summer 28 ft. 5 ins. Bale capacity 13,980 Cargo oil (in 7 tanks) 2,200 tons Machinery 6-cylinder Harland/B. & W. opposed piston turbo-charged Service speed 16.5 knots Cargo gear includes a 70-ton derrick Refrigerated chambers for a limited tonnage of special cargoes Passengers 12

7 The Diomed is the thirty-fourth ship to be built by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd. of Dundee for the Blue Funnel and Glen Lines, and our connection with this Scottish yard goes back to Amongst many fine Caledon-built ships particular mention might be made of Glenearn and Glengyle, which under the White Ensign formed part of Z Force in the Mediterranean. Both ships were engaged in the evacuation of Greece in 1941, when Glenearn was seriously damaged, but was repaired in time to take part in the Normandy operation in Glengyle was engaged in the operations off Crete, in a number of Malta convoys, the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Anzio, and ended up her Naval career in Far Eastern waters. A further sister-ship was taken over by the Admiralty while on the stocks in 1942 and was completed as Diomed V is launched, April 1956.

8 H.M.S. Activity, an escort carrier. In this capacity she had a distinguished Naval career in the protection of Atlantic and Arctic convoys and was engaged in a notable action against a large force of U boats in the Arctic Circle in 1944, when three of the attacking submarines were sunk. After the war she was acquired from the Navy, and after extensive reconstruction was commissioned late in 1947 as m.v. Breconshire. In recent years the Caledon Shipbuilding Co. have built the three ships of the Nestor Class, which are remarkable in having what is still probably the most advanced design in turbine machinery in service today in the British Merchant Navy. Following Diomed we have four further ships on order from the Dundee yard. H.M.S. Activity, Escort Carrier, now M.V. Breconshire.

9 6-Cylinder opposed piston turbo-charged Engine on Shop Trials at Greenock.

10 We have a long and close connection with John G. Kincaid & Co., the builders of Diomed s main engine which is the seventeenth set of diesel engines built for us by the Greenock firm over the past fifteen years. Diomed is propelled by a B. & W. / H. & W. 6-cylinder single-acting two-stroke opposed piston turbocharged engine rated at 8,500 S.H.P. the first turbo-charged engine of this type to be built in Scotland. The fuel injection which operates on the Archaouloff system was supplied by Wilson & Kyle. John G. Kincaid & Co. are building six further sets of similar machinery for Blue Funnel ships now on order.

11 The Midshipmen s Accommodation.

12 Diomed carries a complement of 72, but instead of the normal deck crew of 18 and 4 midshipmen she is manned on deck solely by midshipmen. The Diomed is not a training ship in any ordinary sense. Midshipmen spend two voyages on the ship that is about seven months but during the rest of their sea time they are trained in groups normally of four on the Company s other ships, most of which carry midshipmen and some, in addition, engineer cadets. The Calchas has been manned entirely by midshipmen since 1947, and we are satisfied that our experience with this ship has proved that during their two voyages midshipmen acquire a competence in practical seamanship and a degree of selfreliance which cannot be achieved by other means of training. The Calchas has now reverted to normal manning, and her place is being taken for this aspect of our deck officers training scheme by the Diomed, whose accommodation has been specially designed to provide for her high complement of midshipmen.

13 The Blue Funeel Loading berth, Glasgow.

14 Blue Funnel ships have carried Scotland s trade between Glasgow and the Far East for nearly 75 years. In 1880 Mr. Alfred Holt appointed Mr. Colin William Scott as Agent for The Ocean Steam Ship Co. in Glasgow, and the Blue Funnel direct service was inaugurated in The China Mutual Steam Navigation Co. appointed J. & A. Roxburgh as their Agents in 1895, which they remained until 1923, when the two agency houses combined under the name of Roxburgh, Colin Scott & Co. Ltd. Even in the early days Blue Funnel ships maintained a regular liner service, and between the wars in spite of slump conditions Blue Funnel ships sailed from Glasgow on alternate Saturdays with clockwork regularity. Since the Second World War industrial development in Scotland and development of trade with new areas in the East have been catered for by increased sailings to Malaya, Hong Kong, China and Japan and the inauguration of direct sailings from Glasgow to Manila, Bangkok, Borneo and Indonesia. Our regular services from Glasgow are maintained by the 16-knot A class and the four 18-knot Peleus class vessels which latter provide for Scottish shippers the fastest service to the Far East. It is interesting to note that as compared with 1939 Blue funnel sailings from Glasgow have been increased by 50%. Until 1930 the Company s vessels were loaded at Yorkhill Basin. For some time this berth had hardly been adequate, and in 1930 the Company was able to establish its service to the Far East at Shieldhall, where berths were built specially for the trade and where we are in the fortunate position of being able to receive cargo continuously throughout the year.

15 What of the future? In a fleet such as ours normal obsolescence calls for a building programme of 2 to 3 ships a year, and in conditions as they are today one of the most difficult problems the liner owner has to solve is how and when to build. Especially in the Far East political and economic conditions are such that the volume and nature of trade is impossible to forecast over any long period ahead. Against this uncertain background the owner must order tonnage of which he cannot get delivery for 4 years or more, at a price which may well be 25% in excess of the tender. However, the Blue Funnel Line has served the Far East for over 90 years and we are confident in the future of this trade. In this belief we have commissioned the Diomed and have nine further cargo liners on order for delivery over the next 3 years. AUGUST, Printed in England by Charles Birchall & Sons, Ltd., 17, James Street, Liverpool, 2.

TECHNICAL & TACTICAL INFORMATION

By Sam185 TECHNICAL & TACTICAL INFORMATION CONTENTS R CLASS DESTROYER Page 2 TYPE 15 FRIGATE Page 4 Sam185 2012 Page 1 R CLASS DESTROYER A Rotherham Class ( R Class) destroyer initially ordered as part